Charleston woman plans 11-month volunteer trip

September 29, 2013

CHARLESTON - Jourdan Boyd, 24, is leaving behind the comforts of home to spend 11 months traveling to 11 countries where she will let love shine as a volunteer.

"For these 11 months, I have to pack everything I need, including my tent, to live out of for the year," said Boyd of Charleston. "The purpose of the trip? To love. We will be going and loving on people in the world who need it most."

Her work will include visiting orphanages, helping with feeding programs and building houses. She will show compassion to people suffering from AIDS and talk to those caught in the web of human trafficking.

Boyd will be participating in Adventure in Mission's World Race, a mission program geared for those ages 21 to 35.

On Oct. 12 she will leave for a training session in Georgia with other participants where there will be drills and simulated situations that could occur on the journey that is to begin in January.

The week of training may include anything from sleeping on a bus to hiking or eating fish head soup, she said. Participants must be physically fit and emotionally ready to face the unexpected.

Boyd believes she is up to the challenge - even if she's asked to eat an unusual food.

"In some cultures, if it's offered it's offensive not to eat it," she said. "I can eat anything if it's necessary."

She will quit her job at National Travel and put her belongings in storage to take the journey. Her parents will watch her dog while she's gone.

She'll live with what she can fit into a backpack - and it must weigh less than 50 pounds to take it on the plane.

However, she wants it well below that weight because she must carry it wherever she goes.

"I will carry my tent, a sleeping pad, clothes for a year, and necessary medications, such as enough malaria medicine to last a year," she said. "I will take pictures of my family and my dog. I've bought a West Virginia Mountaineer pillow pet. That will be my pillow for the year so I can have a little piece of home."

Boyd grew up in Chesapeake and attended Cross Lanes Christian School before heading to Florida where she majored in marketing at Southeastern University near Orlando. While in college, she worked at Disney World, where she portrayed Mickey Mouse, a character that fit well with her five-foot frame.

Her parents, Jeff and Kathy Boyd, live in Dallas, Texas, where her father is a pastor at Gateway Church. Her sister, Olivia, also lives there with her daughter, 18-month-old Layla. Olivia is a single parent and Jourdan's best friend.

Boyd said it will be hard not seeing her family for nearly a year, but she will stay in touch through social media whenever possible.

She will be among a group of about 50 people who will work in teams of six or seven. For safety sake, nobody is ever permitted to be alone. She is undergoing a series of shots and has been told to watch out for pickpockets in some areas.

She will travel with her group to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Thailand, Philippines, Burma and Malaysia.

"Once we enter a country, we go to individual ministry sites," she said. "The team becomes your family."

They will travel by plane, train, and bus as well as on foot and maybe even by elephant.

Aside from volunteering for free, she must raise $15,000 to cover costs of the 11-month journey. She has been saving money and selling T-shirts. She plans to send out letters asking for support as well as hold a 5-K fundraiser.

"I've met my first goal of $3,500," she said. "I must have half the money by January and the rest within the next six months."

She has taken previous mission trips to Guatemala and Czech Republic to serve others. She believes reaching out to those in need for several months will be gratifying.

"I'm nervous because you grow attached to the people you help," she said. "It is overwhelming the number of people who need help and need loved on. If I can change one person's life, they can go out and change the life of one or two more. It can be a big ripple effect."

She also believes she will be forever changed by the experience.

"The focus will be on giving to others," she said. "It's impossible not to be changed when you focus on that for a year."

When she returns home, she plans to look for another job.

"I would like a marketing job (to fit) my degree," she said. "I'm not sure what changes may happen. My goals may shift completely."